1. Liberals ready to unleash the Vaughan

Darren Calabrese/National PostAdam Vaughan

Olivia is back. Everyone is gearing up for the fight of the century as Olivia Chow faces off against Adam “Mad Dog” Vaughan in a Toronto waterfront riding. Pundits are drooling at the juicy battle to come. It hurts to say it, but I think this turn out to be a non-story. Vaughan has twice defeated the Chow/NDP/Jack Layton forces, and is far more more willing to get dirty. He’s too mean, and she’s too pleasant. That’s why she placed third in the mayoral race. Plus the new riding boundaries mean a lot of the voters aren’t old enough to remember her glory days on Toronto council, when she was perceived as something more than Mrs. Layton. (The Toronto Sun thinks different.)

2.Putin adversary flees to France to escape death threats

A former close associate and banker to Vladimir Putin is on the lam and hiding out in France, claiming the Russian President is trying to have him killed. One-time billionaire Sergei Pugachev snuck out of Britain despite a court order, leaving his passport behind, and says he’s “down to my last $70 million” as he flees Putin’s henchmen, who he says have threatened his family and planted devices in his cars.

3. Donald Sutherland versus The Forces of Evil

Donald Sutherland wants to vote in Canada, even though he doesn’t live here. Neil Young wants to close the oilsands, even though he doesn’t live here. Hmmm … I guess the money’s better in the U.S., and the climate is certainly nicer in California, but it’s fun to play patriot when you don’t actually have to live with the consequences. Sutherland notes he has “a maple leaf in my underwear” and has resisted suggestions he take out U.S. citizenship. No one is saying you can’t be a citizen, Donald, or continue to fervently retain your Canadian identity. But the judge was right: “Permitting all non-resident citizens to vote would allow them to participate in making laws that affect Canadian residents on a daily basis but have little to no practical consequence for their own daily lives.”

4. Taliban leader Mullah Omar may be dead

Getty Images fileMullah Mohmmad Omar was always a reclusive figure, even during his brutal, iron-fisted rule over Afghanistan

BBC says Afghanistan reports indicate Mullah Omar, the one-eyed cleric who headed the Taliban, is dead. He might have been dead for three years, in fact. It says the Taliban is expected to issue a statement soon.

5. The endless campaign could get endlesser

NP

Apart from the fact it will squeeze out third-party ads and put money pressure on the NDP and Liberals, is a two-month + election campaign something Canadians really want to put up with? Talk about trying public patience. There’s a reason they’ve tended to be shorter in recent years, and it’s because people get fed up with it all. Even though they’ve been semi-campaigning for months, the real campaign means lawn signs and daily media coverage of every little wiggle. Politicians are bad enough at the best of times, putting up with them for 11 weeks is just unconscionable.

6. Trudeau denies keeping ‘low profile’

Handout/Canadian PressLiberal leader Justin Trudeau and his family: it's comfy at home

Justin Trudeau’s bad press is getting worse. Reuters has a story suggesting he’s “missing in action” and has his handlers denying he’s keeping a low profile and won’t hit the road like the other leaders. Ooch. Keeping a low profile, 10 weeks before the election? That hurts.

7. Iran cuts Hamas tunnel-building budget

AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov

Newsweek (yes, it still exists) says Iran has cut all funding to Hamas. Not because they’re turning into nice guys in Tehran in gratitude for Obama’s nuclear treaty, but because Hamas refuses to support Bashar al Assad as he slaughters his way through the Syrian population. The funding freeze could put a serious damper on Hamas’s tunnelling operations and rocket acquisition. That would be nice for Israel, but don’t expect it to say thanks.

Olivia Chow, the Toronto New Democrat who abandoned federal politics last year for an ill-fated mayoral run, announced her return Tuesday, setting up a progressive showdown with an old foe in a new Toronto riding.

Chow appeared beside federal NDP leader Thomas Mulcair at a downtown Toronto daycare. With young children crying and laughing in the background, she told reporters she intends to compete in the upcoming federal election.

Philip Cheung for National PostChow plans to contest the new downtown Toronto riding of Spadina-Fort York.

“I’m running as an NDP member for Spadina-Fort York,” she said. “After 10 long years of Stephen Harper, his plan just isn’t working.”

Chow vowed to help deliver a national child care program, $15-an-hour minimum wage and a national transit plan if elected.

She called Mulcair “the only leader that can defeat Stephen Harper and bring about good public transit, a decent minimum wage for hard-working Canadians and hope for children.”

Though her pedigree in downtown Toronto politics is impeccable — a former city councillor, she long formed one half of the city’s most powerful political duo with her late husband, Jack Layton—Chow’s victory is by no means ensured.

Following a tepid campaign, she finished an embarrassing third in last October’s mayoral election, behind both eventual winner John Tory and Doug Ford, a one-term city councillor and labelling executive who joined the race with only six weeks to go.

She’ll be facing off against Adam Vaughan, a popular Liberal M.P. with a long history in politics and journalism in Toronto. Vaughan, who replaced Chow on city council in 2006 and then again in Ottawa in 2014, wasted no time going after his new opponent Tuesday.

Philip Cheung for National PostPlaying with kids after the announcement.

“Less than a year ago, she made a decision that federal politics wasn’t where her future lay. And she cost taxpayers a million dollars for a by-election so she could run for mayor,” he said. “Now, less than a year after I was sworn in, she’s back saying, ‘No, federal politics is where I want to be.’ I think that’s a measure of one’s commitment to the program.”

Vaughan himself quit city council last year to run in the federal by-election.

For her part, Chow said she left federal politics because “thousands of Torontonians” told her they needed a new mayor. Asked why she’s returning now, she replied: “I refuse to stand on the sidelines and watch the desperation and parents waiting for childcare, 17,000 of them in Toronto alone.

“I’ve worked so hard for 30 years for children, for a national daycare program, and we are at a historical moment. We’re at the edge of having a government that can finally deliver childcare to one million kids across Canada.”

Philip Cheung for National PostFormer New Democrat MP Olivia Chow announces during a press conference that she will be running for the NDP in the Spadina-Fort York riding in Toronto. She is joined by NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair.

Chow said she has no problems with Vaughan personally; it’s the Liberal Party she disagrees with. In her speech, though, she focussed mostly on Harper and the Conservatives. She took only one shot at Liberal leader Justin Trudeau.

At the end of her speech, Chow echoed the words of her late husband, telling supporters that, in 83 days, they’ll have the chance “to replace fear and division with hope and optimism.”

Wayne Cuddington / Ottawa CitizenAdam Vaughan said he isn’t afraid of taking on Chow, a national figure considered NDP royalty in Toronto.

Chow will be taking a leave of absence from her teaching position at Ryerson University to campaign.

Though they’ve never faced off directly, Chow and Vaughan have fought proxy wars for years. In 2006, when Vaughan left journalism for politics, the NDP warned him to stay away from Trinity-Spadina, Chow’s old ward, he said.

“Jack [Layton] took me aside and said ‘we’ll destroy you. You’ll never work again as a journalist. You should think twice about running against the NDP. We take no prisoners.”

Vaughan won that race, handily, over Helen Kennedy, Chow’s former executive assistant. Eight years later, when he ran for Chow’s old federal seat, also called Trinity-Spadina, he faced another member of the Chow/Layton team in Joe Cressy. Cressy, who was the best man at Mike Layton’s wedding (Mike is Jack’s son) left Chow’s mayoral campaign to run federally. Vaughan won that race too.

A bombastic public figure — former Toronto mayor Mel Lastman once threatened to kill him on the city council floor — Vaughan is also the Liberal point man for the party’s national housing strategy. He said he’s happy to put his record — on housing, transit and other issues — up against the better-known Chow’s.

“I’ve run a couple of times now against the NDP machine in downtown Toronto, so there’s very little in the way of surprises,” he said. “You know what to expect. And you know where the support is. I know the riding inside out, better now than I did in the last three campaigns.”

The riding itself, however, has changed significantly. Created for the next election, Spadina-Fort York encompasses a huge swath of Toronto’s fast-growing waterfront. It’s younger, and more upscale than the old Trinity-Spadina.

At the event Tuesday, Mulcair recited a host of NDP election promises before introducing Chow as “a tireless champion” of her city and a “strong, experienced advocate” for child care.

“Toronto is Canada’s most important city,” he said. “Only when Toronto is strong is Canada strong. Canada thrives when Toronto thrives and Olivia has always been an outstanding advocate for Toronto.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/posted-toronto/olivia-chow-expected-to-announce-shell-return-to-federal-politics-run-in-new-riding-of-spadina-fort-york/feed6]]>std20150728-OliviaChow-0191.JPGPhilip Cheung for National PostPhilip Cheung for National PostPhilip Cheung for National PostWayne Cuddington / Ottawa CitizenTO0728_SpadinaFortYork_C_JRBritain gets its own Rob Ford … and Monday’s other reasons to fear for humanityhttp://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/britain-gets-its-own-rob-ford-and-mondays-other-reasons-to-fear-for-humanity
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/britain-gets-its-own-rob-ford-and-mondays-other-reasons-to-fear-for-humanity#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 12:34:39 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=838629

1. Olivia Chow to launch comeback comeback

Darren Calabrese / National Post files Liberal MP Adam Vaughan.

Olivia Chow is reportedly gearing up for her big comeback announcement. After quitting Toronto council to become an MP, then quitting Ottawa to run for mayor, she’s expected to soon announce she wants to be an MP again. This time she’ll have to face the Liberals’ chief nasty-man, Adam Vaughan, the Liberal equivalent of Pierre Poilievre but less polite and more insulting. This could be the most fun race in the election. Already Vaughan is calling her a serial quitter who never finishes anything: way to stick to the issues Adam! Obviously he didn’t get the email from Justin about not resorting to Tory tactics. (Hey Adam, now you can tell us what you really think about Eve Adams).

2. That big noise you hear is China crashing

And you thought Greece was a problem. Chinese stocks have crashed again, despite a massive government rescue program earlier this month. The value of shares fell 8.5% in one day. After an earlier collapse, the Chinese government banned big shareholders from trading their shares, banned new listings and threatened to jail short-sellers. The new dive is bad news for anyone (that’s you Canada) who was counting on a revival of China’s economy to bring new life to the economy. Greece is an itty-bitty country with no economy, China is huge behemoth with a massive economy. Ulp.

3. Rob Ford come back, all is forgiven

Suzanne Hubbard/PA Lord John Sewel, without his five-pound note

A senior member of Britain’s House of Lords has been recorded snorting coke through a five-pound note while complaining to prostitutes about the increased difficulty of claiming expenses. John Sewel, Baron Sewel of Gilcomstoun, headed a House of Lords committee in charge of discipline. He is heard on the tape, obtained by The Sun newspaper, denouncing the Prime Minister, Mayor of London and various colleagues, and declaring that “Members of her lordship’s house … are right thieves, rogues and bastards at times. Wonderful people that they are.”

4. What was Justin thinking?

Eve Adams glorious failure to get herself nominated in Eglinton-Lawrence suggests the Liberal members of that riding have much better judgement than their party leader. Who told Justin this was a good idea? Now we’ll probably never know. Next time he gets a bright idea, maybe he better check with the Liberals in Eglinton-Lawrence before scheduling the photo op.

5. U.S. Turkey to create “safe zone” in Syria

ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty ImagesPrime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed Friday that Turkey would continue operations against Islamic State jihadists and Kurdish militants after it bombed IS targets in Syria and made nearly 300 arrests.

U.S. papers say Turkey and the U.S. have agreed on a joint effort to clear ISIL out of a 60-mile strip in northern Syria that would be used as a “safe zone” for Syrian refugees. The plan would use U.S. warplanes and a combination of Syrian rebel fighters with Turkish support. Turkey had been mainly staying out of the fighting despite the chaos it was causing on its borders, until ISIL detonated a suicide bomb last week that killed 32 people.

6. Scouting to vote on gay leadership

KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty ImagesMembers of the Boy Scouts salute during the raising of the flag in Hudson, Wisconsin.

The Boy Scouts of America is to vote Monday on lifting its ban on openly gay employees and volunteers. The Scouts ended a ban on gay members two years ago in a rancorous decision that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The majority of scout troops are run by organizations with religious affiliations, including Mormons, Catholics, Southern Baptists and Muslims. They’re still not happy about the latest vote, which could feed a breakaway scout movement.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/britain-gets-its-own-rob-ford-and-mondays-other-reasons-to-fear-for-humanity/feed0stdBritain Cocaine LordDarren Calabrese / National Post files chinaSuzanne Hubbard/PA THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty ImagesKAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty ImagesSo a few people die. Americans love guns more than they dislike death, and Friday’s other reasons to fear for humanityhttp://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/so-a-few-people-die-americans-love-guns-more-than-they-dislike-death-and-fridays-other-reasons-to-fear-for-humanity
http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/so-a-few-people-die-americans-love-guns-more-than-they-dislike-death-and-fridays-other-reasons-to-fear-for-humanity#commentsFri, 19 Jun 2015 12:59:08 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=802041

1. Did Hillary mention that she’s a socialist too?

Win McNamee/Getty ImagesSen. Bernie Sanders

Socialist Bernie Sanders is gaining ground on America’s Sweetheart Hillary R. Clinton as Democratic candidate for president. Associated Press reports that “Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, is drawing sizable crowds in the early voting states. He’s also gaining against high-profile Clinton in very early polls, particularly in New Hampshire, a factor that impresses the political class even though opinion surveys at this point are limited in predicting who will win.”

This should be fun. Given the usual Clinton approach, Hillary will now have the Clinton World Foundation fund Socialist International or something to give her street cred.

2. Guns and America, it never ends

Facebook via Charleston Police DepartmentCharleston Police identified Dylann Storm Roof as the shooter who opened fire during a prayer meeting inside the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., Wednesday night, killing several people.

Obama says he wants a “national reckoning” on guns in the wake of the latest massacre in Charleston.

“At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries,” Obama said. “It doesn’t happen in other places with this kind of frequency. It is in our power to do something about it.”

You know what, Mr. President, I’m with you on this, but it’s not going to happen. Americans love guns more than they care about massacres. People get killed; they don’t worry about it. Always been that way.

3. Is Germany the new Canada?

PATRICK PLEUL/AFP/Getty ImagesIs that a tank?

Germany says it’s changing 60 former military bases, mostly in the formerly commie East Germany, into nature preserves, for birds and flowers and marshes and meadows. Oh look … is that a rainbow? The bunnies will be overjoyed. Berlin said it could have sold off the land and made a mint, but decided to “give these places back to nature.” Aren’t those Germans sweet people? I think they’re turning into Canadians. Given that most Germans recently said they don’t support the main basis of NATO, i.e. mutual military support, let’s hope that the dirty Russians don’t trample all those nature trails with their tanks.

4. The conspiracy that’s in all the papers

L.A. Times file photo

An organization calling itself the Research Group for Trade Justice Network, which thinks international trade is a giant corporate conspiracy, commissioned a poll of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the biggest free trade deal ever. Twelve countries are in the late stages of finalizing negotiations. The poll discovered three-quarters of Canadians never heard of it. Who? TPP, is that, like a disease? This might be interpreted as demonstrating that most people don’t get deeply involved in complex international trade issues, but no: the Trade Justice Network thinks its proves the conspiracy is working. Sure there have been about 8 million articles about TPP, so anyone who cared could read up on the details. But never mind that. It’s a conspiracy. Shhhhh. Don’t tell anyone.

5. Adam Vaughan. Nuff said

Tyler Anderson / National PostAdam Vaughan

So Harper gives Toronto $2.3 billion for SmartTrack and Adam Vaughan complains because he didn’t consult the province or other mayors? “Hi, mayor of North Bay? It’s Harper. Do you mind if I give Toronto $2.3 billion? Oh yeah? Well, thanks for your input.”

I guess if the Liberals win in October and Trudeau wants to give money to B.C., he’ll send Vaughan to consult with Newfoundland first.

6. We subsidize it, they pour it down the sewer

CP

The Globe reports that Canada’s uber-protected milk industry has such a huge glut of the stuff it’s turning it into pig feed or dumping it in lagoons.

“There have been days in the last couple of weeks when we have had to dispose of skim milk in lagoons,” Dairy Farmers of Ontario chairman Ralph Dietrich said in a letter to farmers. “Right now, we continue to be challenged on a daily basis and there is no obvious end in sight.”

Sure a good thing we protect these guys against international competition. Imagine if they had to compete against countries that don’t pour milk down the drain?

The Liberal party has a decision to make: Who’s running the party, Justin Trudeau or Mike Colle’s dead body?

Mr. Colle is the provincial Liberal representative for the Toronto riding of Eglinton-Lawrence. After learning that Mr. Trudeau had recruited MP Eve Adams from the Conservatives – perhaps the most ill-advised trade since the Senators sent Zdeno Chara to the Bruins – Mr. Colle said what everybody (except apparently Mr. Trudeau and his advisers) knew: it was a dumb thing to do.

“I mean, that a Harper Tory from Mississauga all of a sudden is going to run here in the middle of Toronto with no connections and no awareness? You know, it’s a real insult to the local Liberals in this community,” he said.

He later told the CBC: “You don’t buy into Liberal values in 24 hours… You work, you volunteer in the community, you fight for causes. That’s what makes a Liberal. You don’t buy them at a convenience store, like it seems in this case.”

As for Ms. Adams stated desire to run in Mr. Colle’s riding, that will happen “over my dead body,” he said.

Mr. Colle is a provincial representative, not a federal one, so he’s not bound by Mr. Trudeau’s whims. And he clearly doesn’t share the enthusiasm of his party leader, Premier Kathleen Wynne, who has taken to appearing with Mr. Trudeau at every opportunity. He seems instead to prefer common sense, and a street-level grasp of political sensibilities.

In that he has an advantage over Mr. Trudeau, who, after almost two years as leader, is still making the sort of hamfisted gaffes that saddle the party with people like Ms. Adams. Eglinton-Lawrence already has a candidate for the nomination, lawyer Marco Mendecino, who has signed up hundreds of new members for the party. Mr. Trudeau will now have to either muscle him aside in favour of Ms. Adams – once again violating his “open nomination” policy and upsetting many local Liberals – or explain why he went to the trouble of recruiting her in the first place, only to let her drop off the radar a few months later.

If past practice is followed, he’ll find a way to squeeze out Mr. Mendecino, much as Ms. Wynne did in Sudbury, where the Liberal candidate was summarily jettisoned in favour of an NDP defector in a recent byelection. The Liberals won the byelection, but at the expense of many bruised Liberal followers.

Mr. Trudeau has opted for this route in the past, dictating candidates despite a pledge not to do so. Toronto Central got Chrystia Freeland because Mr. Trudeau’s people made clear they wanted it that way. Trinity-Spadina riding got Adam Vaughan for the same reason. Ottawa-Orleans got Gen. Andrew Leslie over lawyer David Bertschi when Mr. Bertschi’s “green light” was rescinded to ease the way for a Leslie acclamation. Marijuana activist Jody Emery was barred from running in Vancouver, despite Mr. Trudeau’s pro-legalization stand (perhaps to avoid the colourful Ms. Emery from attracting too much attention to the issue). Barj Dhahan, a candidate for the Liberal nomination in Vancouver South, told the CBC he was pressured to withdraw by party officials so they could run a “preferred” candidate.

Dhanah said he was offered another riding, and told he’d be acclaimed as candidate, but rejected the offer because he has lived in Vancouver South for 60 years and wanted to represent a community he knows.

In most of these cases the party leadership has insisted they’re just following standard practice, while painting the losers as whiners and ingrates.

“Any time you have a competitive situation like politics is, there are winners and there are people who don’t win and their supporters can sometimes be very emotional,” Mr. Trudeau said in the case of Mr. Dhahan.

Obviously someone needs to get this message through to Mr. Colle, before he gets too emotional. He appears to remain under the impression that local riding members have a right to run local nominations free from undue interference from party headquarters, or from a leader who wants to parachute in favoured candidates. He may have gotten that impression from Mr. Trudeau himself, who insisted that was the sort of party he planned to run. Silly Mr. Colle. Surely he’s been in politics long enough to know that party leaders often make pledges they don’t intend to keep. Did he think Mr. Trudeau would be different?

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/full-comment/kelly-mcparland-whos-running-the-liberals-justin-trudeau-or-mike-colles-dead-body/feed2stdLiberal candidate Mike Colle celebrates with supporters after being re-elected as MPP for Eglinton-Lawrence in the Ontario provincial election in Toronto Thursday, October 6, 2011.Downtown‘This place is usually filled with tourists': Solemn scene on Parliament Hill as Ottawa gets back to workhttp://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/this-place-is-usually-filled-with-tourists-solemn-scene-on-parliament-hill-as-ottawa-gets-back-to-work
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/this-place-is-usually-filled-with-tourists-solemn-scene-on-parliament-hill-as-ottawa-gets-back-to-work#commentsThu, 23 Oct 2014 17:52:15 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=533665

With bells ringing to call MPs into the House of Commons for a vote on Thursday morning, rookie MP Adam Vaughan was standing outside the Library of Parliament, looking at the bullet hole in the door.

“You want to put into context what you heard,” said the Liberal MP, who was in a stairwell just steps away from where a gunman was felled after storming Centre Block on Wednesday.

In the gunfight, a bullet had also grazed one of the ornamental stone carvings on the wall in the Hall of Honour, Mr. Vaughan pointed out, showing a photo he took on his phone.

“This place kind of had a sense of security that just flowed from its prestige,” he said. “It’s been violated. You feel a vulnerability when before you felt a sense of power and prestige.”

Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was shot dead on the steps of the National War Memorial on Wednesday. The gunman then fled to Parliament Hill, where he was killed, reportedly by sergeant-at-arms Kevin Vickers.

On Thursday, the expansive Parliament Hill grounds were deserted, save for police vehicles and patrol officers.

“It’s weird,” NDP Alexandre Boulerice said outside Centre Block. “This place is usually filled with tourists, schools, people doing yoga.”

Walking into Centre Block for the first time since the evacuation, Mr. Boulerice said he was getting “flashes of yesterday.”

“You know? Gunshots, hiding under the tables,” said the Quebec MP, who was barricaded inside the NDP caucus room when shots rang out on Wednesday.

“But we will not be intimidated.”

Julie Oliver / Ottawa CitizenA soldier kneels to read a few of the cards and notes laid in front of the still-barricaded memorial Thursday.

The Canadian Press/Justin TangOttawa Police officers move flowers to an area in front of the National War Memorial near Parliament Hill Thursday.

Let us now overanalyze four byelectionsIn light of Monday’s by-election results, each of which it’s possible to read as good news for the Liberals, everyone seems to agree that “[Justin] Trudeau and his team are doing something right, while [Stpehen] Harper and [Thomas] Mulcair and their teams need to adjust their strategies, if they hope to slow the Liberals’ momentum,” as Postmedia’s Michael Den Tandt puts it. Kelly McParland, writing in the National Post, agrees. Tim Harper, writing in the Toronto Star, agrees. Aaron Wherry, writing for Maclean’s, agrees — albeit with appropriate skepticism about the larger meaning.

And indeed, weagree. We just have more trouble composing phrases like “low turnout notwithstanding” and then saying anything meaningful. You can ooh and ah at the swings in percentages, but that Very Good Night for Justin Trudeau resulted in a grand total of 46 fewer Liberal votes than they got on election night in 2011. That was by far the best of the lot, but people aren’t exactly clambering over each other to vote for Trudeau.

Furthermore, at Pundits’ Guide, Alice Funke notes that the Liberal win in Trinity-Spadina was demonstrably more about candidate Adam Vaughan than it was about Trudeau. “We know from published polls and other research that the NDP’s Joe Cressy beat generic Liberals and their former candidate Christine Innes,” she writes. She also politely suggests that the eye-rolling hype over a possible Liberal win in Fort McMurray-Athabasca was “unnecessarily inflated.”

With Trans-Pacific Partnership talks kicking off in Ottawa, the Citizen‘s Kate Heartfield argues “Canada has a chance to shape the world order of the 21st century” in a manner befitting Stephen Harper’s professed commitment to large-scale free trade. She suggests an “ambitious” gesture that might grease the wheels: The government should gruesomely kill supply management with a chainsaw. Or, if you prefer, the government could “announce its intention to help Canada’s dairy industry follow the path of New Zealand’s wildly successful dairy-exporting industry. Or the path of Canada’s own wine industry, for which free trade was not death but new life.”

In a very interesting piece in the Vancouver Sun, Daphne Bramham suggests that Knowledge Network, British Columbia’s public broadcaster — which we confess never to have heard of — could provide a model for the struggling CBC: It delivers “commercial-free television with high quality programs” that people want to watch — notably cinematic (as opposed to long-form journalism) documentaries — on a “shoestring budget” and with no in-house production. And what’s most remarkable, Bramham reports, “donors — not taxpayers — provide nearly 80% of the network’s operating revenue.” Willing donors! What a concept!

The Star‘s editorialists spend seven paragraphs agreeing with Women’s Minister Kellie Leitch that there need to be more women on corporate boards, and applauding her “monitoring, moral suasion and political pressure” approach to bringing that about. Then they note, fairly, that the government’s own appointment record isn’t so great on gender parity — perhaps worse than the Liberals, in fact. Then they complain Leitch ignored the “millions of working women [who] are paid less than their male counterparts, trapped in precarious part-time jobs and penalized for taking time off to care for sick children or aging parents,” which seems less fair. You can’t address every problem with every announcement, surely.

Provincial affairsThe Post‘s Scott Stinson advises Ontario’s Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats against radical repositioning along the political spectrum in the wake of their recent election losses. The Liberals’ own positioning is very unlikely to survive the realities of governance, he notes — especially on the question of balancing the budget vs. public sector job cuts.

In TheGlobe and Mail, David McLaughlin notes that Kathleen Wynne’s election victory fits a Canada-wide pattern: “In the past 10 years, every Canadian premier seeking re-election following a leadership change in their party has won.” There may be a message there, he argues: “Choose a new leader before voters choose a new party.” There is, however, “a catch”: “No recent premier has gone on to win a subsequent election after winning that first one as a new leader. ”

Rob Breakenridge, writing in the Calgary Herald, thinks Alberta Justice Minister Jonathan Denis has some very large cojones to demand an apology from the opposition over allegations the government ordered the mass confiscation of law-abiding citizens’ firearms during (and well after) the flooding in High River, considering neither he nor anyone else has been able satisfactorily to explain exactly whose orders were being followed. “Given what happened in High River and the many unanswered questions, we should be seriously concerned about how residents might react in the event of another major disaster,” Breakenridge argues. “If we want to avoid a repeat, our focus should be on getting answers and fixing the Emergency Management Act.”

In writing about byelections, it is always required that you preface your remarks with the warning that the results don’t necessarily mean a lot. Byelections are an opportunity for voters to lodge a protest against the government without fear of defeating it, and thus need to be treated cautiously.

That being understood, Stephen Harper would be very foolish not to examine the results of Monday’s four contests and be concerned about the amount of protest being sent his way. The two results from Toronto, in particular, and especially the Liberal victory in the downtown riding of Trinity-Spadina, should be extremely worrying to any Tory official tasked with getting the party re-elected in 2015.

The winner in Trinity-Spadina was Adam Vaughan, an acerbic city councillor best known for his inability to stomach Mayor Rob Ford. Many people now feel the same way about Mr. Ford, but Mr. Vaughan was out early with his animosity and inventive insults. He is also the son of a well-known local TV personality and broadcaster, neither of which is enough to explain the beating he put on NDP candidate Joe Cressy on Monday.

Vaughan whomped Cressy, outpacing him by more than 6,000 votes out of about 34,000 cast. This in a riding closely associated with former NDP leader Jack Layton, which was previously held by his widow, Olivia Chow. Chow now appears to be on her way to becoming mayor of Toronto by defeating a collection of conservative candidates. Cressy is a close associate of the Layton family, and was regularly accompanied by Layton’s son Mike, also a city councillor, as he knocked on doors. Cressy might also have expected to benefit from the fact Vaughan was depicted as having been parachuted into the riding by Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, in violation of his own pledge of an open and fair nomination process, and while he was being sued by the woman who was pushed aside in favour of Vaughan. The Liberal candidate also had to deal with the fact that, during a campaign debate, it became clear he disagrees with his own party’s position on oil pipelines, which for some reason was treated as a key issue.

None of this was enough to overcome the Liberal campaign, mainly, it would appear, because Torontonians have already decided they like Justin Trudeau – no matter how ill-prepared he may sometimes appear to be – and will give him just about anything he asks. Last month they made a similar decision in re-electing Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, despite an 11-year record of Liberal government that could barely sit upright for all the ugly baggage it carries with it. Toronto may not be all there is to Canada, as it often views itself, but it has a crucial supply of seats, which is set to grow even fatter next year when the House of Commons expands from 308 seats to 338. No one wins the country if they get shut out in Toronto; in the recent provincial election, the Liberals took almost every seat between Hamilton and Oshawa.

REUTERS/Gi Chih-ShengNationalist Party legislator Liao Feng-teh (C) screams as he fights with the ruling Democratic Progessive Party (DPP) legislator Lin Feng-hsi (R in white hair) in a meeting room of the parliament building in Taipei, March 23, 2004. The fight erupted when both parties discussed a recount amendment following the presidential election.

If Prime Minister Stephen Harper isn’t worried about this, he isn’t paying attention. The federal Conservatives have already unleashed their attack dogs on Mr. Trudeau, vilifying and belittling him at every opportunity. At this point in their respective leaderships, Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff were already showing distinct signs of the wobbles, but Mr. Trudeau seems able to sail along, unscathed by the abuse. Maybe he just doesn’t read the reviews. Maybe he figures the Trudeau name is so invincible in Canada he doesn’t have to worry about such minor concerns as the Tory war room. In that he may be justified, if his byelection record is anything to go by. In addition to winning handily in Trinity-Spadina, the Liberals easily retained the riding of Scarborough-Agincourt despite a typically nasty Tory attack strategy, and even made inroads in the Alberta riding of Fort McMurray-Athabaska, despite the fact Mr. Harper has pretty much hitched his future to building some pipelines to help sell its oil.

The Conservatives may pooh-pooh these results and rest confident in their ability to hole Mr. Trudeau’s boat when the big moment comes next year. For election strategists the Liberal leader must appear as a juicy target, prone to talking himself into trouble and with a wealth of foolish moments in his past that can be resurrected as proof of his inexperience. But evidence is growing that, after eight years of Harper government, voters have grown accustomed to its tactics and less easily influenced than they once were. If they’re going to do damage to Mr. Trudeau, they better find a better strategy than the one they’re using, because it doesn’t seem to be working.

Liberals swept both federal byelections in Toronto on Monday by decisive margins.

Former city councillor and broadcaster Adam Vaughan won Trinity-Spadina, Olivia Chow’s old downtown seat with the NDP, while Arnold Chan retained the Liberal seat in Scarborough-Agincourt vacated by Jim Karygiannis.

By 10:40 p.m. Monday, NDP candidate Joe Cressy tweeted that he had called Vaughan to congratulate him on his victory. As of midnight with nearly 90% of votes counted, the Liberals were ahead of the NDP by nearly 5,000 votes, earning 53% of votes, compared with the NDP’s 34%.

At the Steam Whistle Brewing building near the Toronto waterfront, Mr. Vaughan’s victory speech was partly drowned out by the loud cheers of supporters who chanted his name.

Taking the stage with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, Mr. Vaughan thanked his supporters and his parents, long time Liberal supporters.

“We are the party that’s going to deliver to the people… in cities across this country,” he said.

Trinity-Spadina, considered a bellwether riding, has bounced back and forth between the Liberals and the NDP for the past three decades. Former Liberal MP Tony Ianno held it for 13 years before Chow, wife of the late NDP leader Jack Layton, won in 2006. She resigned the seat in March to run for mayor of Toronto.

“The results of these byelections have proven that our message is reaching and engaging Canadians,” Mr. Trudeau said in a statement.

“Liberals’ results and significant gains make clear that Albertans in particular will not be taken for granted. Voters have shown us that they believe that every Canadian deserves a real and fair chance at success.”

As we succeed, and as we fail, always we begin again. Soon we will begin again. I just called to congratulate @TOAdamVaughan on his victory.

“What’s been hurting cities in this country is a lack of partnership,” Mr. Vaughan said to reporters at the victory party. “Stephen Harper is a constitutional fundamentalist. He doesn’t understand that cities are where Canadians live.

“Change is on its way. Cities and towns, mayors and city councillors across Canada should be celebrating,” he said.

When a reporter asked his opinion about Mayor Rob Ford’s news conference apology Monday, Mr. Vaughan said he hadn’t heard it, he was out campaigning.

Choosing a nominee for Trinity-Spadina became a headache for the Liberals earlier this year when Trudeau barred candidate Christine Innes from seeking nomination in March.

Innes lost two previous elections in the riding to Ms. Chow. Trudeau’s team said the decision to ban her from running was prompted by bullying and intimidation tactics from her husband, Mr. Ianno. Ms. Innes denied the allegations and has since filed a libel suit against Mr. Trudeau.

Both Trudeau and federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair campaigned with their nominees in the riding.

Mr. Cressy has longstanding ties to the party and is close with the Chow and Layton families. He managed Chow’s federal re-election campaign in 2011 and served as Mike Layton’s best man at his wedding.

Vaughan had served as city councillor in the same area since 2006 and previously worked as a television journalist. He surprised some supporters when he sought the Liberal nomination in April. Some didn’t peg him as a Liberal, though his parents were supporters of the party.

Meanwhile, the race was no closer in Scarborough—Agincourt, which has been Liberal stronghold for a quarter of a century.

Arnold Chan, a lawyer who held a senior position with a Canadian-owned waterpower development company and has been involved in politics for three decades, including a stint as a staffer for former Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, swept the riding.

Mr. Chan received 59% of the vote, well ahead of his closest challenger, Conservative Trevor Ellis at 29%. NDP candidate Elizabeth Ying Long was well back with 8.5%.

Jim Karygiannis, who held the seat since 1988, stepped down to run for a seat on Toronto city council.

National Post, with a file from The Canadian Press

Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian PressLiberal Adam Vaughan celebrates his by-election win in the Trinity-Spadina riding with Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau at the Steam Whistle Brewery in Toronto on Monday June 30, 2014.

Laura Pedersen/National PostAdam Vaughan: “When Joe Cressy spoke against the tar sands and oil sands production, he was corrected by his leader.”

The race’s front-runners, Liberal candidate Adam Vaughan and NDP candidate Joe Cressy, went toe-to-toe on the topic of the Keystone pipeline.

“Justin Trudeau went to Washington and said Stephen Harper wasn’t doing enough to lobby for Keystone,” said Mr. Cressy, adding that Liberals have supported pipelines without conditions.

Mr. Cressy previously criticized Mr. Vaughan’s decision to skip an environmental debate earlier in June, saying if he wants to be the “Keystone candidate” he has to defend his position.

“What the Liberals stand for is very simply this, a process. We don’t choose a pipeline and then say let’s get it approved,” Mr. Vaughan said. “What we talk about is the … regulatory process that builds better projects, regulates them better, cleans up effectively when there are accidents.”

Mr. Vaughan took aim at Mr. Cressy, referencing comments he’s made on pipelines, saying they were in contradiction with his party’s position.

“When Joe Cressy spoke against the tar sands and oil sands production, he was corrected by his leader,” he said.

In response, Mr. Cressy said the NDP evaluates resource development pipelines based on three conditions: “It must be done sustainably, in partnership with First Nations, and with an eye to long-term prosperity. … We have said we will support pipelines if they meet those conditions.”

‘Temperature ain’t changed, lady, and I ain’t paying no carbon tax to fight some imaginary threat!’

The reaction drew “boos” from the crowd and the moderator asked Mr. Turmel to “cool out.”

“It’s like being back in city council,” quipped Mr. Vaughan.

The topic of legalization of marijuana came up when one apartment-dwelling resident complained about smelling the drug in his building.

“I have smoked pot in the past … It’s not for me,” said Mr. Cressy, adding that the NDP has worked consistently to decriminalize marijuana and is opposed to mandatory minimums.

“The war on drugs has not produced anything other than misery,” said Mr. Vaughan. “We have got to deal with drugs as a health-care issue.”

Ms. Labchuk took the opportunity to say it was “high time” Canada legalized marijuana.

When the topic of mandatory voting came up, Mr. Cressy said he would “absolutely” introduce a private member’s bill on mandatory voting. He said he wants to take on issues of youth unemployment, green energy and invest in child care and transit. Tax is not a four-letter word, he said.

Mr. Vaughan spoke about supporting arts and culture and building strong housing programs, an area where “all governments have failed,” he said.

Laura Pedersen/National PostCandidates take questions from the audience during the debate between candidates running in Toronto's Trinity Spadina riding on Monday, June 23, 2014.

NDP MP Olivia Chow, who vacated her seat in March to run for Toronto mayor, previously held the Trinity-Spadina riding.

The riding was also a provincial NDP stronghold, but the Liberals defeated New Democrat Rosario Marchese, who held the riding for 24 years, in the June 12 election. The loss raises questions about whether the changing demographic in the riding, including an influx of young condo dwellers, will hand the Liberals another win.

“Federally, they say they want to take on Harper. And the NDP is the only party doing it,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Cressy campaign announced it had called the police after more than 900 campaign signs disappeared over the past several weeks.

“It is an unprecedented amount,” said campaign manager Brian Cox. “The difference between this and vandalism is the number of signs that have simply disappeared.”

Signs began disappearing before the provincial election, but the number significantly accelerated thereafter, he said. Entire streets were cleared of the signs, including the street Mr. Cressy lives on.

“It would take a significant amount of resources to do this,” said Mr. Cox.
He said he believes the campaign is being targeted, particularly in the area bounded by Ossington, Bathurst Street, Albany Road and Dupont.

NDP candidate Joe Cressy has spent the week pillorying his Liberal rival, former city councillor Adam Vaughan, for skipping a debate on climate change. He maintains Vaughan absented himself rather than defend Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s support for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry bitumen from Alberta to refineries on the U.S. Gulf coast.

“If Justin Trudeau and Adam Vaughan want to be the Keystone candidates, they have to defend it. It’s not enough to ignore the voters,” Cressy said in an interview, adding that he’s never once heard Vaughan, an environmental activist in his own right, defend Keystone.

The oil sands are the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to climate change, in Canada. And that, said Cressy, is of concern to voters in Trinity-Spadina.

“Climate change, it’s one of the defining issues of our time,” he said.

“People in downtown Toronto talk about it a lot … Climate change is now real here in downtown Toronto. We had this ice storm last winter, we had flooding last summer, we had a heat wave like we’ve never had just a year ago.”

But the oil sands are also one of the biggest sources of economic growth in the country.

Consequently, the Conservatives are enthusiastic advocates of pipelines to fulfil Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s dream of turning Canada into an energy superpower. The Harper government has been pushing Keystone and this week approved the Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to British Columbia’s environmentally sensitive northern coast, subject to 209 conditions.

Trudeau is opposed to Northern Gateway. But he’s open to another proposed pipeline to B.C.’s coast, Kinder-Morgan, which he considers less environmentally risky. And he’s a staunch supporter of Keystone, which has been approved by Canada but is stalled in the U.S.

My pipeline is better than your pipeline kind of conversations frankly don’t change the yardsticks on the climate change dynamic

NDP Leader Tom Mulcair is opposed to all three. He favours a west-east pipeline that would carry the bitumen to refineries in Atlantic Canada.

Vaughan denies he skipped the climate change debate to avoid talking about Keystone. In an interview, he said there was some confusion about the timing and, in the end, he couldn’t make it because he had other commitments.

Vaughan insisted he’s not afraid to defend Keystone but finds pipeline politics unproductive. He noted that none of the three main parties advocates shutting down the oil sands and each has their preferred pipeline for getting the bitumen to market.

Vaughan doesn’t disagree with Cressy that climate change is a defining issue. But for him, “wedge politics” over pipelines is not the crux of the matter; the real issue how to make cities, which he called the biggest engine of greenhouse gases in the country, more energy efficient.

“At the end of the day, if cities don’t stop burning and wasting fossil fuels, we’re going to be sucking oil out of every corner of the planet to feed a beast that, quite frankly, can be tamed,” he said, citing better housing, public transit and infrastructure as the solution.

The NDP has held Trinity-Spadina since 2006, when Olivia Chow took the seat from the Liberals. Chow, the widow of late federal NDP leader Jack Layton, resigned to run for mayor in Toronto’s municipal election this fall.

The byelection, scheduled for June 30, is seen as a crucial battle in the NDP-Liberal war over which opposition party is the real government-in-waiting.

Trudeau and NDP Leader Tom Mulcair have been in the riding multiple times since the byelection was called last month. Mulcair is to campaign with Cressy again today.

Earlier this week, Mulcair waded into the pipeline fray.

“I think that there are people in places like Trinity-Spadina that realize that Joe Cressy is the right person for the job because he’s part of a team that understands that there’s no sustainable development if you’re shipping raw bitumen and shipping your jobs out of the country,” Mulcair said.

“So people know that we’re the only ones standing up on these issues against Keystone XL and that’s a defining difference between the NDP and the Liberals.”

She talks the talk and she walks the walk on these tough issues of sustainable development and she gets elected time after time

He maintained the party’s stance won’t hurt its already slim chances in Macleod and Fort McMurray-Athabasca, the two Alberta ridings also facing June 30 byelections. The Conservatives are expected to easily hold onto both.

“These are not ridings that have been naturally devolved to the NDP, as you know. But these are issues that are important to everyone,” Mulcair said.

He noted that the NDP’s sole representative in Alberta, Edmonton MP Linda Duncan, is an environmental lawyer.

“She talks the talk and she walks the walk on these tough issues of sustainable development and she gets elected time after time. And that reassures me that a lot of people in Alberta understand the importance of sustainable development.”

A second Toronto riding, Scarborough-Agincourt, will also choose a new MP on June 30.

Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong has been on a mission for the last four years to establish a separated bike lane network in the downtown core.

It has been, by his own admission, an “awkward, tortuous” slog and one that’s not done yet. On Wednesday, the public works and infrastructure committee that he chairs gave the green light to a crucial piece, approving a pilot project for separated lanes on a section of Richmond and Adelaide streets.

The trial run still requires city council to sign off, and a decision on making them a permanent fixture will not come until next year, once an environmental assessment is complete.

“This is a fantastic step forward for the City of Toronto,” Jared Kolb, with advocacy group Cycle Toronto. “There have been some low points and some high points [this term]. Today is one of those high points.”

The decision by this city council to remove bike lanes from Jarvis Street qualifies as one such “low point” for the cycling community, and it still burns for some two-wheel commuters. The city also removed lanes on Birchmount and Pharmacy, in Scarborough, at the request of local residents.

Related

As a trade off, a separated downtown network began to take form. It started with a tiny stretch of Bloor Street, over the viaduct, then lanes separated by a curb on Sherbourne Street and bollards on Wellesley Street (although on the latter route, the bollards are spaced out to such a degree cars can still park in between).

On Wednesday, the committee also approved upgrading existing bike lanes on Harbord and Hoskins into separated lanes and sharrows into proper bike lanes.

National Post GraphicsClick to enlarge

Councillor Minnan-Wong defends removing the Jarvis lanes. He says there are limited options for motorists trying to get in and out of the downtown core, and Jarvis is one of them.

But he pushed for a separated bike network because “you’ve got to build something for cyclists because they’re a recognized form of transportation. I’m not going to be the guy that’s going to advocate for bike lanes on every street, but on certain streets, do them and then leave it alone.”

He learned that, fundamentally, people are in favour of bike lanes as long as they don’t live or work on that street. On Harbord, for example, the tricky balancing act between local businesses and differing points of view among cyclists resulted in a “watered-down” version of bike lanes, he said.

They also come at a cost: by removing about 40 street parking spots to accommodate the lanes, the Toronto Parking Authority forgoes $295,000 in revenue. The proposal is to separate the lanes on Richmond and Adelaide with a painted buffer and flexi-posts, at a cost of $390,000.

Mr. Minnan-Wong was never able to turn Beverley Street’s lauded bike lane into a separated one, blaming a “certain level of opposition” from the local councillor, Adam Vaughan.

Mr. Vaughan, who has resigned his council seat to run for MP, said he was neither in favour or opposed to separated lanes on Beverley, but what was proposed was done without consultation. “We wanted to know what the design would look like so we could have a conversation but they just pronounced, we’re going to put in bike lanes,” he said.

Still, Mr. Minnan-Wong’s efforts on Richmond and Adelaide earned praise from Councillor Mike Layton, a member of the public works committee and an avid cyclist.

“Notwithstanding those black eyes [of removing lanes], in an era where there could have been no movement, this is I think a step in the right direction,” he said.

Adam Vaughan bid farewell to Toronto city hall on Tuesday in a manner that has defined his second term in municipal politics: launching a verbal spear at Rob Ford. And, by drawing one last caricature of the chief magistrate, now seeking rehabilitation for substance abuse.

“He was a terrible mayor, the worst mayor the city’s ever had,” Mr. Vaughan told reporters at the lunch break of the Toronto East York Community Council. “And the only good thing about today is that as I leave, he’s not around to talk about it.”

Mr. Vaughan has resigned his seat as Ward 20 councillor in order to carry the Liberal banner in the federal Trinity-Spadina by-election on June 30. The by-election was called after Olivia Chow resigned as MP to run for mayor. The city clerk will prepare a report for the next meeting of council recommending that council officially declare the Ward 20 seat vacant and approve a process to appoint someone to fill the spot within 60 days.

It’s unusual for a councillor to resign a seat when seeking office at an upper level of government — many hold on until the outcome of the race. Mr. Vaughan will face off against Joe Cressy, a well known NDP organizer who hopes to continue the party’s domination of the downtown riding.

Natalie Alcoba / National PostVaughan's last caricature of Rob Ford

“It’s a risk, but you don’t do politics because it’s safe,” said Mr. Vaughan. “You don’t do politics because it’s easy. You do politics because you want to get something done and that’s a lesson my mother taught me more than my father, who was a politician.”

He hopes his legacy at city hall revolves around housing: he ran in 2006 on a pledge to build more three-bedroom condo units and leaves with 1,800 completed (compared to 13 in the decade before, his office says). He says there are about a dozen different housing models underway in his ward. If there is one regret he has, though, it’s not convincing his colleagues that dedicating 10% of Section 37 — a provision in the Ontario Planning Act that enables municipalities to collect funds for community amenities from developers in exchange for building more density than the bylaws allow — could wipe out Toronto Community Housing’s repair backlog.

“I hope I’ve been a very strong advocate for housing,” said Mr. Vaughan, who wants to go to Ottawa to develop a national housing policy.

But, he’s probably best known as Ford’s nemesis.

“He overshadowed everything we did as a council,” he acknowledged. “Did I stand in front of that train first and fastest? Maybe. I’m proud to have done that.”

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/adam-vaughan-bids-farewell-to-city-hall-ahead-of-federal-bid-gets-in-one-last-dig-at-worst-mayor-rob-ford/feed4stdAdam Vaughan bid farewell to Toronto city hall on Tuesday in a manner that has defined his second term in municipal politics: launching a verbal spear at Rob FordNatalie Alcoba / National PostHomeless shelter in Toronto’s entertainment district cost city more than $12-millionhttp://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/homeless-shelter-in-torontos-entertainment-district-cost-city-more-than-12-million
http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/homeless-shelter-in-torontos-entertainment-district-cost-city-more-than-12-million#commentsMon, 12 May 2014 21:49:17 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=465058

A downtown homeless shelter that skyrocketed in price part-way through construction ended up costing the city more than $12-million.

The Peter Street facility, built on the footprint of a former dance club in the middle of the entertainment district, was originally budgeted for $5.5-million in 2007.

It ran up against a whole host of issues, starting with a building purchase price of $4.7-million. A battery of contract changes, drainage repairs, roof modifications and the addition of an elevator drove the cost up to $11.5-million in 2010.

The final tally, contained in a report before the city’s government management committee, put it at $11.7-million, plus $400,000 in legal costs.

The committee accepted the final figure without discussion on Monday, but councillors had plenty to say afterwards about the municipal government’s track record when it comes to budgeting big capital projects.

The massive overhaul of Union Station, the revamp of Nathan Phillips Square, and the redevelopment of the St. Lawrence Market North building have all seen their projected costs rise.

“The community and the city deserve an apology when we overspend. This is wrong,” said Councillor David Shiner, who chairs the government management committee. Councillor Doug Ford suggested it’s up to the city manager to bring staff who can’t meet budget targets in line.

“You don’t elect politicians to sit there and manage if wood stairs or steel stairs go in,” said Councillor Adam Vaughan, in whose ward the Peter Street shelter is located. “It’s the staff’s job. But when we found out the jump in price is money that could have been spent on housing people elsewhere, I was furious.”

The shelter, which has 40 beds and acts as a referral centre, is said to have helped nearly 12,000 people get off the street into shelter or housing. It opened its doors in October 2010, two years behind schedule, although work on an elevator continued into 2012.

Mr. Shiner said the city has now changed how it approaches such construction ventures. Politicians used to approve estimates based on just two- thirds of the design and engineering work; now, officials will know “the full cost of the project as best we can,” before giving it the green light, he said.

Josie Scioli, chief corporate officer, said the intent is “to come in and do granular work and make sure we come in on plan.” She said the renovation of Nathan Phillips Square is still on track to meet its last budget of $51.7-million and is slated for completion by the end of this year. “There may be some issues based on the weather conditions we had this year but that’s about it.”

A Toronto city councillor is going to be the Liberal candidate in a federal byelection created by the resignation of New Democrat Olivia Chow in March.

Liberal Party handoutChristine Innes is currently suing Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and a party official for $1.5-million for defamation over their allegations about the conduct of her campaign

Adam Vaughan won a nomination contest in the riding of Trinity-Spadina beating out two other challengers.

He’ll have to deal with a riding association that has been embroiled in infighting.

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau blocked two time candidate Christine Innes from seeking the nomination a third time, his team accused her campaign of using bullying and intimidation tactics to garner supporters.

Innes, the wife of former MP Tony Ianno, has vehemently denied the allegations and has launched a libel suit against Trudeau and his Ontario campaign co-chair David McNaughton over the matter.

The New Democrats have nominated long-time Chow supporter Joe Cressy to try to hold the seat.

Justin Trudeau’s credibility has again come under fire from a member of his own party, with new allegations the Liberal leader is stacking the deck to help star candidates win local nomination battles.

Ryan Davey announced Wednesday night that he is pulling the plug on his hopes to represent the party in the upcoming byelection to replace former NDP MP Olivia Chow in the Toronto riding of Trinity-Spadina.

In a message on his website, Davey said he was withdrawing because “events over the past few weeks have led me to decide that this nomination process has been a de facto appointment.”

Only a day earlier, Davey had told the Citizen he hoped his seven years as vice-president of the Liberal riding association in Trinity-Spadina had earned him the trust of local members. He hoped that would persuade them to let him carry the party’s flag in the byelection.

But on his website, Davey said Trudeau’s “clear identification of favoured candidates creates an imbalance in support that is difficult to overcome for other candidates.”

The Liberal leader has been closely associated with former Toronto city councillor Adam Vaughan, who, after having lunch with Trudeau last month, announced he was seeking the nomination in Trinity-Spadina.

Davey accused the party of changing the rules to give Vaughan access to membership lists so that he could start contacting local Liberals before he had even been approved as a candidate” – critical information that all candidates had waited weeks to receive.”

“As part of a renewed Liberal Party — one that would do politics transparently and democratically — we were promised open nominations,” Davey wrote. “Regardless of the outcome, these circumstances have not been consistent with an open nomination process.”

Both Vaughan’s campaign and Trudeau’s office referred questions to the Liberal party, which did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

But in an interview with the Citizen before Davey’s announcement, Vaughan downplayed suggestions he was Trudeau’s hand-picked candidate, while boasting of the support he brings to the Liberals in the riding.

“I’ve been building a base that I’ve now delivered to the Liberal party,” he said. “So have I been there with a red tie? Absolutely not … Have I earned my political chops in the ward? Yes I have, and I’ve fought some pretty tough fights on a street-by-street, neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood level to get where I am.”

Liberals in Trinity-Spadina will select their candidate for the byelection Saturday. The date of the byelection has not been set.

Trudeau and the party had already been fending off criticism for their handling of the Trinity-Spadina and other nomination fights.

Matthew Sherwood for National PostToronto Councillor Adam Vaughan is going to try for a federal Liberal nomination.

Former candidate Christine Innes, who ran for the Liberals against Olivia Chow in the last two elections, has filed a $1.5-million defamation lawsuit against Trudeau and another party official after she was blocked from seeking the nomination for the byelection.

There have also been grumbles within the party about Trudeau highlighting star candidates such as Chrystia Freeland, retired lieutenant-general Andrew Leslie and Manitoba businessman Jim Carr before they have won nominations.

Trudeau’s team says the Liberal leader’s promise to hold open nominations does not prevent him from recruiting and promoting star candidates, as it still falls to local Liberals to vote on who represents them.

With Toronto city councillor Adam Vaughan emerging as a star candidate for the Liberal party in an upcoming byelection, the local riding association is stressing that the high-profile announcement was not yet a “coronation” for Mr. Vaughan.

The Trinity-Spadina councillor, long-known as a foil to Mayor Rob Ford, told reporters Thursday he plans a jump to federal politics and will seek the Liberal nomination in an upcoming Trinity-Spadina byelection to replace Olivia Chow, the NDP MP who resigned to run for Toronto Mayor.

Before Mr. Vaughan’s announcement, the Liberals were amid a search for a candidate in the downtown riding after would-be candidate Christine Innes was barred from running by party leadership for alleged bullying and intimidation tactics. The riding’s executive condemned the move, calling the party’s decision “undemocratic.”

Earlier this week, the Liberals declared an “electoral urgency” in the riding, allowing party leadership to take over the organization of nomination meetings. Riding president Julia Metus said Friday she hopes the move won’t stop riding members from “an opportunity to vote for the nominee they want to run.”

“If there was a coronation of sorts, then that would be disappointing,” she said, adding that she had been given no reason to fear interference with the nomination process. At least four others plan to challenge for the candidacy, Ms. Metus said.

In an interview with CP24 Thursday, Mr. Vaughan was clear that he had not yet been awarded the Liberal nomination.

“The first election I have to contest to win is the nomination,” he said. “I’ve got to reach out to members … and explain to them why this change is a good one.”

Mr. Vaughan’s choice to leave municipal politics comes after two terms at city hall, where he has often been at odds with the mayor. Earlier this year, he was passed over for a spot on the mayor’s cabinet-like executive committee.

Behind the chain-link fence were two massive yellow backhoes, each equipped with a kind of gripper claw.

Working in theatrical unison, the two operators pointed the jaws of the machines at the second storeys of two brick townhouses. With a sickening squeal, the jaws ripped at the brick, wood, plaster and aluminum-framed windows, sending a shower of red bricks raining down onto the snow.

A family — Kathleen Sousa and her daughters, Selena and Kaliegh — stood outside the fence, looking in, transfixed.

Peter J. Thompson / National PostThe demolition cranes at work

“I’m not happy,” said Ms. Sousa, who has raised eight children in this sprawling area of townhouses connected by footpaths, grass and trees.

“The houses are going to be nicer, but right now it’s cosy. You can let your kids go out and play. Now it’s going to be streets.”

“They are going to mix people who own and people who are renting,” she added. “You are asking for trouble.”

Peter J. Thompson / National PostAbout 100 people gathered in the snow Tuesday for the ceremonial demolition

About 100 people gathered in the snow Tuesday for the ceremonial demolition. It is the first step in a process to transform the nine-hectare Alexandra Park from an affordable housing neighbourhood to a mixture of condos, townhouses and apartments.

Tridel, the city’s private partner, will refurbish 473 rental units, replace 333 rental units with new apartments, and build 1,540 new condos, some in buildings up to 13 storeys high.

Councillor Adam Vaughan told the assembled the project will improve Alexandra Park, adding a new park, an expanded community centre and new retail space for small businesses along Dundas Street West.

This project mimics the reconstruction of Regent Park, east of here, with one difference: In Alexandra Park, the city made a commitment to “zero displacements.” When the city wrecks your house, officials will find you another place to live, in Alexandra Park, until your new place is ready.

“There is an elaborate game of leapfrog,” Mr. Vaughan said. “That’s why it’s going to take 15 years.”

Effie Henry, a grandmother who has lived here 10 years, is cautiously optimistic.

“I am not moving out of the community,” she said at the community centre, where locals went after the wrecking show to eat chicken wings, samosas and cake. “That is No. 1.”

She cradled the brick Tridel had given her from the demolition.

Peter J. Thompson / National PostGreg Spearn, Chief Developement Officer for Toronto Communmity Housing, speaks to onlookers during the kick off for the Alexandra Park's Phase One Revitalization

“We talked about three things: green space, a basement and a back yard. I am just keeping my fingers crossed. We just have to wait and see.”

Ms. Henry is clear on one point: Sandwiched between Chinatown and Kensington Market, this is a wonderful place to live.

“I just go out of my house, I get my fresh fish, I get my vegetables. What more can we ask for?”

About a decade ago, residents took charge of much of the housing stock here, transforming it into the Atkinson Housing Co-operative. Some will get a chance to buy their homes in the new community.

“To see your home come down is not a good feeling,” said Zeinab Eldardiry, president of the co-op.

She has lived here 31 years and raised four children. Her youngest, Marwa, graduated from Ryerson in planning.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/peter-kuitenbrouwer-alexandra-park-reconstruction-hopes-to-mimic-regent-park-revitalization/feed0galleryKathleen Sousa (CENTRE) watches the demolition of buildings with Ellie (LEFT) and Kaliegh (RIGHT), as the Alexandra Park's Phase One Revitalization was kicked off in Toronto just West of Spadina on Cameron Street, Tuesday February 11, 2014Peter J. Thompson / National PostPeter J. Thompson / National PostPeter J. Thompson / National PostPeter J. Thompson / National Post'Only the corrupt ones get to stay': Heckling and shouting from Rob Ford and key rival forces early end to Toronto councilhttp://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/toronto-council-speaker-asks-colleagues-to-stop-disrespectful-behaviour-but-some-say-shes-worst-behaved-partisan
http://news.nationalpost.com/toronto/toronto-council-speaker-asks-colleagues-to-stop-disrespectful-behaviour-but-some-say-shes-worst-behaved-partisan#commentsMon, 16 Dec 2013 16:54:42 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=402998

Toronto city council seemed to heed Speaker Frances Nunziata’s plea for decorum in the council chambers Monday — until the final 15 minutes of its meeting, when shouting and heckling forced her to recess the session early.

Ms. Nunziata singled out the behaviour of Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, Mayor Rob Ford and Councillor Adam Vaughan, the latter of whom she said was “chirping” at his colleagues. It apparently provoked a reaction from Mr. Mammoliti, who was asked to apologize and refused. At some point, Councillor Gord Perks said he heard Mayor Ford say “only the corrupt ones get to stay.” Ms. Nunziata also asked him to apologize and the mayor was heard protesting that he didn’t use anyone’s name.

He refused to comment as he left city hall. Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly claimed it was Mr. Mammoliti’s promise to resist “physically” if anyone tried to remove him from the chambers that led to the meeting’s abrupt end.

Peter J. Thompson/National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford (LEFT) has a animated conversation with Counsellor Frank DiGiorgio (RIGHT) during session at a city council meeting, Monday December 16, 2013

Ms Nunziata said she would try again to elicit apologies from the mayor and councillor, who defended himself and said he would be back in his seat Tuesday.

In a statement on Tuesday morning, Mr. Mammoliti vowed to “stand his ground.”

“Being asked to leave Council while 2 other Councillors, Mihevc and Vaughan, acted inappropriately left me no choice but to stand my ground. The Speaker was arbitrary, abrupt and unfair in her call for me to leave Chambers, while other Councillors were being disruptive and inappropriate,” the statement from Mr. Mammoliti read.

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After a series of raucous November council meetings that restricted Mayor Rob Ford’s powers, Nunziata had earlier on Monday pleaded with her colleagues to be nice during the year’s final session of the municipal government.

Ms. Nunziata put her concerns to paper in a memo that was distributed to councillors in advance of Monday and Tuesday’s meeting.

“Disruptive, disrespectful and unparliamentary behaviour reflects poorly on City Council and undermines public confidence in out ability to govern,” wrote Ms. Nunziata, who attached a list of her responsibilities and that of members of council.

“While I encourage each Member to carry out their duties with the necessary passion and intensity that is required by our positions, I am seeking everyone’s co-operation so that we do so in a way that is consistent with parliamentary tradition and our own rules of conduct.”

Peter J. Thompson/National PostToronto Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong gestures during session at a city council meeting, Monday December 16, 2013

In November, city hall was gripped by the intensifying scandal around Mayor Ford, who admitted, after months of denials, to using crack cocaine, purchasing illegal drugs and various instances of public drunkenness. Council’s attempts to contain the chaos began with a vote urging the mayor to take a leave of absence, a symbolic gesture that has been ignored. It then called three special meetings in which it voted to dramatically restrict the mayor’s powers, culminating with a volatile session that saw the mayor and his brother get into a shouting match with observers in the chambers, and Mayor Ford accidentally knock over Councillor Pam McConnell. Ms. Nunziata acknowledged the “extraordinary” and “emotionally charged” period, but maintained that is no excuse.

Some members of council did not take kindly to being scolded.

Tyler Anderson / National Post"If we had an impartial chair who treated members with as much respect as she seems to think she deserves, we wouldn't have half the problems we have," said Councillor Adam Vaughan

“If we had an impartial chair who treated members with as much respect as she seems to think she deserves, we wouldn’t have half the problems we have,” said Councillor Vaughan on Monday morning. “She acts with absolutely no impartiality and the minute she gets out of the chair she’s the worst behaved.”

Councillor Minnan-Wong, who accused Mayor Ford of blocking him in a “threatening way” during one of the November meetings, said on Monday morning if Ms. Nunziata wants council to act with decorum, she should lead by example.

“I thought I handled myself appropriately, I sat in my chair, I didn’t take the bait as it were,” he said. “I think the mayor was acting as a schoolyard bully and I thought that was highly inappropriate. From time to time the speaker shows a certain level of enthusiasm through her partisan nature.”

Councillor Nunziata rejected the notion that she has displayed a pro-Ford bias in some of her rulings. “I believe I’m fair to all members of council,” she said. “And both Mayor Ford and Councillor Ford did apologize at the last council meeting. If they did not apologize I was prepared to remove them from council and I warned them of that. And I told the mayor as well after the council that if he behaves like that again, I will throw him out of council.” She seemed pleased, however, that her words may have had an impact, given the civility on display Monday. But, she was not holding her breath.

Rob Ford was all smiles today as he attempted to brush off questions about the latest bombshell allegations to engulf his mayorship.

The latest claims, made in police documents released Wednesday, include; Ford attempted to buy the crack video for $5,000 and a car; gang members had a number of pictures of the mayor using hard drugs; the mayor’s phone was stolen at a crack house; and his friend, accused drug dealer Sandro Lisi, exchanged more than a pound of marijuana for the stolen phone.

The wiretaps also revealed the video hung over the Dixon City Bloods gang as they speculated the murder of Anthony Smith was connected to it. The video was also connected to a jailhouse beating and a home invasion.

Ford was also forced to brush off a cameraman today as he attempted to navigate the short distance back to his office after a meeting of Toronto City Council’s Executive Committee.

On leaving the committee room, the cameraman and Ford collided, drawing this reaction from the mayor: “Guys! Come on. This is getting ridiculous, where’s security?’

Earlier on Thursday, CP24 reporter Rena Heer had claimed she had hurt her wrist during a separate collision with the mayor.

Ford was attending his first executive committee meeting since city council removed many of his powers and handed them over to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly. Kelly and Ford, who met privately Wednesday for the first time since the move, spoke again Thursday and seemed somewhat less than friendly.

The executive committee voted to defer debate on allowing Porter to fly jets out of the island airport until February 2014. Kelly, who supports expansion of the airport, voted to defer rather than face a defeat now. Ford, who also supports expansion, voted against the deferral.

Kelly publicly called for Ford to explain himself about Wednesday’s court documents, specifically regarding why he is connected to so many pople living a “nefarious lifestyle.”

Here’s a taste of the chaos during another bizarre day at Toronto’s city hall.

The cameraman collision

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto City Mayor Rob Ford (left) fends off media as his Chief of Staff Dan Jacobs attempts to unlock a door after they leave an Executive Committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto City Mayor Rob Ford shoves his way through members of the media as he leaves an Executive Committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto Mayor Rob Ford uses a security guard as a shield as he makes his way back to an executive committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

Tyler Anderson / National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford is flanked by security as he pushes his way through a crush of media on route to an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

Tyler Anderson / National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford is flanked by security as he pushes his way through a crush of media on route to an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

Tyler Anderson / National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford is flanked by security as he heads towards an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

Deputy Mayor Kelly on what he found most troubling

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto Mayor Rob Ford (right) stops to speak to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly as he leaves an Executive Committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

Tyler Anderson / National PostMayor Rob Ford, who supports approving the plans despite a list of unanswered questions raised by city staff, voted against the deferral. It was put forward by Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly, another Porter proponent who didn't want to risk defeat of the issue at city council now

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto Mayor Rob Ford (left) walks past Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly after stopping briefly to speak to him as he leaves an executive committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto Mayor Rob Ford looks over towards to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly (right) as he leaves an executive committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto Mayor Rob Ford (left) looks over towards to Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly (right) as he leaves an executive committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

Councillor Adam Vaughan on what police need to explain

Tyler Anderson / National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford heads towards his office after exercising at lunch at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto Mayor Rob Ford returns from a workout during a break in the executive committee hearings at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

Tyler Anderson/ National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford drinks from a straw during an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

Tyler Anderson/National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford raises his hand during an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

Tyler Anderson/National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford looks on during an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris YoungToronto City Councillors crowd around Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly (centre) was he prepares to chair an Executive Committee meeting at Toronto's City Hall on Thursday December 5 2013.

Tyler Anderson/ National PostToronto Mayor Rob Ford raises his hand to vote against deferral of a proposal to expand the island airport during an executive committee meeting at City Hall in Toronto, Ontario, December 5, 2013.